After That
by Arcane Assassin
Summary: What come next is up to you.
1. Silver Key

Once again, Lucy was draped over the counter top of the bar, gazing absentmindedly at her glass, a soft smile gracing her features, as thoughts of her girlfriend flittered through her mind.

Mira watched the prone form of the celestial mage with idle curiosity, acutely aware of the sighs and giggles emanating from the young blonde.

"Ne~ Lucy-chan, has something good happened to you recently?" The white-haired barmaid enquired, noting the distracted look that came over Lucy as she returned her attention to the present.

"Hmm?" She murmured groggily, as if having just woken up from a deep sleep.

Mira chuckled at the dazed expression that occupied the girl's face, a goofy grin firmly in place despite the inattentive look in her eyes.

The older girl's laughter seemed to have some sort of effect on the spirit mage, as a dark blush suddenly filled her cheeks, her eyes suddenly very focused on the girl behind the bar.

"Something good, eh?" She turned away thoughtfully, a bashful smile pulling at her lips, "I guess you could say that…" She trailed off, once again lost in thought of a certain redheaded knight.

Mira nodded in understanding, she knew young love when she saw it. _I wonder if Lucy's good mood has anything to do with Erza-chan's?_

Oblivious to the older girl's astute instincts, the blonde mage let out another sigh,

_I hope Erza gets back soon… I miss her…_

The day before Erza had left on a request with Gray and Cana, they had been sitting in the redhead's apartment, chatting about nothing of any consequence while Erza packed in preparation for her trip.

The mood had been light and comfortable, until Erza suddenly turned towards her, cheeks tinged a light pink, and pulled something out of her pocket.

With an embarrassed sigh, she extended her arm shakily towards the confused blonde, "Here." She had whispered huskily, dropping a silver key into the celestial mage's open palm.

Lucy felt her cheeks heat up just remembering the incident. The red-haired knight had mumbled some explanation or other, but Lucy hadn't been able to focus on the words, _I can't believe she gave me the key to her apartment… it's almost like a proposal…_

Mira looked on in concern as she witnessed the blonde's cheeks turn several successive shades darker, once again oblivious to her surroundings. _I wonder if Erza managed to confess yet?_

Shrugging off the younger girl's strange behaviour, she turned her attention to the rest of the guild, unsure of what to do with herself now that Cana wasn't there to clean up after.

The scrapping of a chair recaptured Mira's attention, she noticed the blonde moving away from the bar, heading for the guild entrance, "Leaving already, Lucy-chan?" She called after the girl's retreating figure.

Lucy turned to wave towards the mother-figure of Fairy Tail, "Yeah, Erza and the others won't be back till tomorrow, so I was hoping to get a good night's sleep before they do."

Slightly confused, Mira waved back, wondering at the younger girl's haste, it was still pretty early… and it's not like Natsu was with them…

Closing the door behind her, Lucy pulled the key from her pocket, blushing as she did._ Erza shouldn't mind if I wait for her, should she? She did give this to me to use, right?_

Touching the key to her lips, she smiled at her own boldness. Casting a furtive glance around the front of the guild, she took off in the direction of Fairy Hills, a slight tingling of warmth spreading throughout her stomach.

_I can't wait till Erza gets home._


	2. Guilty Pleasure

**So this was originally only supposed to be a few hundred words of poking and cheek pulling, but instead evolved into the closest thing to a lime i will probably ever write... for those new readers this collection of stories is supposed to act as a 'sequel' to my other fic Mine, but you don't actually need to read it to get the context or anything... so yeah, enjoy :)**

* * *

It was late, the Titania was tired, sweaty and covered in dust from the journey, but at that point in time she felt as if she must be dreaming. Smiling down at the sleeping figure, she reached out, gently brushing her fingertips over the girl's cheek.

When she had arrived home, the last thing she had expected to find was a very cute, and very content, Lucy buried beneath the covers of _her_ bed, asleep, as if it was the most natural place in the world for her to be.

_Well, maybe it is…_

Watching the defenceless girl, she couldn't help but want to tease her a bit. Dropping her bags on the floor, Erza climbed onto the bed, placing her hands on either side of the sleeping girl's head; slowly she closed the distance between them until there were mere millimetres between their noses. Gently, she bumped her nose against the celestial mage's, watching as the younger girl's face scrunched up for a moment before returning to its previously undisturbed state. Smiling to herself Erza repeated the action, her eyes shining in delight as Lucy once again scrunched up her face, twitching her nose slightly in the process.

Moving on, the knight grazed her nose past that of her sleeping counterpart's, tracing it slowly across her cheek, before arriving at the young spirit mage's ear. Humming quietly to herself Erza nuzzling the oblivious girl's ear, before taking the top gently between her teeth.

The sleeping mage, scrunched her face up once more, accompanied by a slight clenching of fists, shifting slightly in in her sleep.

The Titania frowned at the girl beneath her, completely dissatisfied with her lack of overall reaction. Leaning back on her hunches, she observed the immobile figure, contemplating her next move. To be honest, she didn't really want to wake the younger girl, but the sight of her just lying there without a care in the world awakened some strange desire to mess with her, if only a little.

Resuming her previous position atop the spirit mage, Erza gently flicked a few strands of blonde hair clear from her neck, intending to expose the tender white flesh beneath. Ever so gently, she trailed her fingertips down the girl's throat, tracing the small hollow there at its base.

A slight shiver wracked the petite girl's frame as the redheaded knight continued her ministrations, a soft sigh escaping from between parted lips.

Removing her hand, Erza retraced its path with her lips, paving the way with the occasional kiss, revelling in the feeling of the other girl's skin.

Still Lucy did not stir; wondering if perhaps she was doing this wrong, Erza lifted her head to look at the expressionless face beneath her. She sat there patiently, watching the gentle rise and fall of the younger girl's chest, when suddenly she saw the corner of the blonde girl's lips twitch up in an attempt to conceal a smile.

Realising that she was the one being played, the Titania frowned momentarily, but it swiftly changed to a smirk as a new thought struck her.

_Well, two can play at that game_.

Moving so that she was lying on her side behind the 'sleeping' blonde, the redheaded knight slipped her arm across the immobile figure's waist, pulling them flush against each other. She felt, more than heard, the sharp intake of breath of the younger girl at the action, but Erza wasn't quite ready to forgive the celestial mage for her little bout of rebellious behaviour.

Sliding her fingers through the golden tresses that covered her pillow, Erza guided them to one side, leaving the entirety of her goddess' neck exposed. Teasingly, she pressed her lips into the tempting flesh, barely grazing it, as she made her way down to the slim shoulders of the girl in her arms.

She felt the slight tensing of muscles as the blonde fought to suppress another shiver as she trailed her way back up to the base beneath the younger mage's ear. Simultaneously she began to trace small circles through the fabric that covered the spirit mage's stomach. The muscles clenched tighter and tighter beneath her hand, and she couldn't help but smile as she continued to decorate the back of her goddess' neck with kisses.

Feeling that her revenge was almost complete, Erza knew she only had to push a little more before the celestial mage would crack.

Stealthily, still tracing the small circles, she slipped her hand beneath the fabric of Lucy's night shirt; she felt a slight tremble as she did so, and seized by a moment of sudden inspiration she boldly trailed her tongue along the outline of the other girl's ear.

At that Lucy abandoned all pretence of sleep, jumping in the older girls arms before swinging around to gape at her redheaded assailant.

Erza just smirked, leaning on her hand, a look of deep satisfaction painted across her face.

"What was that for?" the celestial wizard cried, clutching at her slightly wet ear, cheeks stained red.

"Oh?" The Titania's smirk merely widened, making no pretence at hiding her delight, "I didn't realise you were awake."

Lucy blushed darker, huffing quietly to herself. She knew Erza was playing with her, but all the same, she wished the older girl hadn't stopped…

"Yes you did." She muttered into the knight's shoulder, burying her face in an attempt to conceal her embarrassment.

"Hmmm… Did I?" the redheaded mage wrapped her arms around her prize, humming thoughtfully to herself, "Supposing I did, why would you pretend to be asleep?"

Lucy made no reply, but her hold on the other girl's shirt tightened.

"'cus… would…awake…" she mumbled in reply, feeling the heat in her cheeks increase.

Smiling devilishly, Erza poked the younger girl's cheek, "What was that?"

Groaning softly, Lucy repeated her mumbled response, "…you…do…things…awake…"

"Still didn't quite catch that." The red-haired knight probed, her grin growing wider at the other girl's growing embarrassment.

"Because you wouldn't do those sorts of things to me when I'm awake!" the blonde girl cried in frustration, before burying her face once more in her girlfriend's shoulder, knowing that she had just given the older girl a very powerful weapon.

"I wouldn't?"

A slight shake of the head was all she got in response.

"Well, you're awake now…" She whispered huskily into the blonde girl's ear.

The body in her arms went very still, yet the Titania could feel the rapid beat of younger woman's heart.

They lay like that for several minutes, and still the other girl didn't move or respond.

Partially satisfied, but still wanting to be a bit of a tease, she pulled herself free from her girlfriend's embrace, before slipping off the bed.

"Hey!" the celestial mage cried as she realised that Erza was once again leaving her. "Where do you think you're going?" She demanded, lifting herself up to look after the retreating figure.

Pausing, with a look of assumed innocence, Erza turned back to the blushing girl, "To take a bath, why?"

The knight knew exactly what Lucy had been waiting so stilly for, but she wanted to make her say it out loud. She loved the way the young spirit mage would turn successive shades of red, puffing out her cheeks, before mumbling what she really wanted and throwing an accusing glare at the woman who was the cause of all her troubles.

And sure enough, there she stood, just out of the door way, cheeks flushed, glaring at the ground, pouting.

The knight saw the subtle movement of her lips, and smiled to herself, knowing that she had won this round.

"What was that?" She inquired, flashing a suggestive look at the humbled mage.

"Will you…" she trailed off, knowing that she really couldn't ask the redheaded knight for… that. It was way too humiliating.

"Will I what?" The Titania probed, she knew what the other girl was trying to ask, and the blonde mage was fully aware of that, glaring up at her tormentor.

Shaking her head in frustration, she crossed the distance between them, hissing the answer into the older woman's ear.

Erza just smiled down at the blonde mage, content that she had tormented her enough for one night, she leaned down she whispered her own response into her partner's ear.

Seeing the blush return in full force, she linked their fingers, drawing the other girl after her.

Sometime, just sometimes, it paid to spend so much time with Cana and Mira.


End file.
